Automatic dam



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INVENTR.

Jan. 10, 1956 H. D. BENTRUP AUTOMATIC DAM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 9; 1953 Henry D. Benrup ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1956 H. D. BENTRUP AUTOMATIC DAM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1955 INVENTOR. Henry D. Benrup ATTORNEY United States Patent O AUTOMATIC DAM Henry D. Bentrup, Deerfield, Kans.

Application July 9, 1953, Serial No. 366,953

13 Claims. (Cl. 621-29) The present invention relates to an automatic dam. It has to do particularly with an automatic dam having a flexible dam curtain which may be released at a prede termined time and which will be played out by the downstream movement of the water in an irrigation ditch to dam up the water in said ditch.

Various types of automatic dams have been available heretofore but most of them have been of rather com plicated and thus costly construction, including many parts or units and thus making them extremely clumsy and cumbersome to handle and transport from place to place. The present invention is related to and an improvement upon that of my co-pending application Serial No. 186,091.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a new and improved automatic dam of the foregoing character which is of relatively few operating parts and being positive in its action of entering the irrigation ditch quickly and effectively `to dam up the water in said ditch.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable automatic dam having clock controlled release mechanism for releasing the flexible dam curtain at a predetermined or set time.

A further object of the present invention is `to provide flexible dam curtain supporting and releasing means which is easily transportable from place to place and which is of compact nature whereby the entire assembly may be stored in a relatively small space.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description and appended claims when considered in `connection with the accompanying .drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like `reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

in said drawings:

Fig. l is a top gplan view .of `a portion or section of ,an irrigation ditch and connecting lateral or side ditch, `showing the appiication of the automatic dam of the present invention thereto, the parts `being indicated` in their out-ofuse positions and `also in their streamfdamming positions.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, .partly in elevation, of the `structure shown :in Fig. l, being taken substantially along the line 2.--2` of Fig. l, ,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged seele fragmentary elevational `view taken substantially along the .line 3 3 lof Fig. l,

looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged scale perspective view, partly broken away, being taken generally along the line 4--4 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Before explaining -in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application `to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, since the invention `is capable of other Vembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various Ways. 'It is `to be understood also that -thephraseology `orterminology employed hereinis :for =the `purpose Aof `description and Vnot 2,729,944 Patented Jan, 1Q, 19,56

ice

2 of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirementsI of the prior art.

Referring now to the drawings, the main irrigation ditch to which the automatic dam assembly of the present invention is applied is shown at 10, lateral o r side ditches which are connected with the main ditch being shown at 11 in Fig. 1.

The exible dam .curtain employed with the assembly is shown as a whole at 12. This curtain may be of any desired length suitable for the purpose, the length and the width of the curtain depending upon the depth and width of the irrigation ditch to be dammed up.

The lead or free end 13 (see Fig. 3) of the curtain carries a series of weights, such as those shown at V14 in Figs. l, 2 and 3. These weights may be attached to the free or lead end of the curtain in any suitable manner, as by means of short ropes or cable 15 which preferably pass through eyelets 16 fastened in the ,Curtain material adjacent the free edge 13 thereof.

The curtain 12 is wound or wrapped around a ditchstraddling pole-like member or roll 16,. the end thereof adjacent the member 16 being securely fastenedto it. The pole-like member or roll 16 has a` reduced diameter or portion 17 at one end which provides,I in effect, a spool to receive a rope or cable 18, one end of which is securely fastened to the spool or portion 17, with the remaining length of the rope or cable 18 being wound around the spool, as shown in Figs. l `and 3. The other end of the long rope or cable 1S is fastened to a member or part of the curtain release mechanism and will be described below.

It is desirable to stake the so-called free edge 13 of the curtain to the earth at the opposite sides: of the irrigation ditch 10 in the vicinity of the lateral or side ditches 1p1. For this purpose, the side corners of the curtain 12 are provided with eyelets `19 through which are passed and secured lengths of rope or cable 20 having at their Outer free vends stakes 231. Thus, it is possible .to stake or removably connect the Weighted end 13 of the flexible dam curtain to the banks of the ditch. The inactive or ontof-use position of the dam curtain is shown in full lines in Figs; l, 2 and 3, with the curtain 12 being wrapped or 4rolled onto the ditchfspanning and supporting member 16. The in-use or operative position of the curtain 12 and the ditch-spanning member 16 is shown in broken lines in Figs. l and i2.

I shall now describe the automatic release and dam curtain operating mechanism of ,the invention. This nmechanism is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 l`and comprises a frame shown as a Whole at 22. The frame includes `spaced ground-engaging base portions 23 and 24 having upright portions 25 and 2 6 and a longitudinally `extentiing elevated portion or section 27. The portions 23, 24, 25, 2,6 and 27 are the supporting portions of the frame assembly 22 and provide means `for supporting and permitting the upright swinging movement of a .releasable arm 28 to which one end of the rope or `cable V18 is attached. The arm 28 has a preferably horizontally disposed opposite end portion 29 being provided with ,an eye 30 at its end to receive the rope or cable L8, The opposite `end of the ann 28 has a right angularly `,disposed portion 31 having `an eye 32 formed in its end. ln its inoperative position, the end portion 31 extends down* wardly toward the earth but when the arm 28 is released, this member extends upwardly, the latter position ,not being shown in the drawings. "The arm 28 carries a projecting finger `28a which -is disposed adjacent the juncture of the arm 28 and the opposite end 29, see particularly Fig. 4, for a purpose to be described. A coiled `tension spring 33, see Figs. 2 and 4, has one end fastened in the eye -32 and the opposite end to a bracket 25a carried `by the upright portion 25 of `the frame.

The arm 28 is pivotally mounted adjacent one end upon a pivot pin or member 34 which extends through the longitudinal portion or member 27 of the frame, being held in spaced relation and substantially parallel to the frame member.27 by a spacing sleeve or member 35, see Fig. 4. 'The ground-engaging or base member 24 of the frame Ycarries a sleeve 36 attached to a stake 37 which permits the member 24 to be staked to the earth to hold the frame against movement during the releasing action of the dam curtain 12.

The frame member 27 is provided with a plate or platform 38 which carries a clock or timing mechanism, such as an ordinary alarm clock, shown as a whole at 39. As best seen in Figs. 2 and 4, the alarm clock has the usual time and alarm winding handles 40 and 41,respectively. The handle 41 is provided with an aperture or opening 41a. An arm-engaging link or memben'shown as a whole at 42 has its upper angularly disposed end portion 43 extending through the opening 41a, see particularly Fig. 4, and has its lower substantially right angular' end portion 44 extending downwardly from the upright portion of the member 42 underlying the longitudinal arm 28 and being disposed between and in contact with the underside of arm 28 and the upper surface of the projecting portion `or member 28a, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

With the parts in the position in which they are shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, the tension spring 33 maintains the arm 28 under tension so as to cause the projection 28a to engage the trigger end potrion 44. VWhen the alarm mechanism of clock 39 is released, turning of the alarm winding handle 41 will move the trigger 42 out of engagement with the projection or iinger 28a, thus allowing the spring 38 to swing arm 28 about its pivot 34 in an upright direction toward the left as viewed in Fig. l, or toward the right as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4, thus pulling on the cable or rope 18.Y This in turn unwinds the rope from spool 17, turning the ditch-spanning member 16 to unwind the flexible curtain 12 to allow the weights 14 to carry the curtain 12 downwardly in the ditch, whereupon the water will cause thenecessary submersion of the curtain 12 to dam up the stream to approximately the water level indicated at 50 in Fig. 2. During this unwinding and stream-damming action of the curtain 12, theA stakes 21 and the curtain-attaching ropes 20 maintain the socalled free end 13 of the curtain in more or less its original position, thus permitting the movement of the ditchspanning member 16 from its full line position in Fig. 2

' to its broken line position in that view and the unwinding or unrolling of the curtain 12.

After suicient water has been dammed up to serve the required irrigating purposes, the mechanism may be re-set by swinging the armv 28 from its broken line po- .sition to its full line position and moving the trigger 42 into its position of Fig. 4 to hold the swinging arm 28 in its set or out-of-use position. The flexible dam curtain 12 is, of course, rewound or rolled onto its support* ing roll 16.

If it is desired to move the automatic darn assembly to another position along the same ditch or to a diierent ditch, it is merely necessary to pull the stakes 21 and 37 from the earth and carry the curtain-supporting means and the curtain-releasing means to a new location. The parts are relatively lightweight and being easy to carry, one person can easily transport, if desirable, to complete automatic dams in accordance with the present invention.

VIt is to be understood, of course, that various types of time controlled means may be substituted for the clock mechanism 39 and various types of trigger or arm-holding and releasing means may be substituted for the trigger 42 shown in the drawings merely by way of example.

While I have shown the use of weights 14 attached to the curtain and portion 13 for lowering the curtain into Vthe stream when the mechanism is released, a suitable pocket could be formed in that end of the curtain and filled with some liquid which is heavier than'water for the purpose of causing the curtain to lower itself into 'the water when released'.

From the foregoing it will be seen that l have provided an automatic dam curtain which requires merely a single ditch and stream-spanning member, such as member 16, to support the curtain either in its out-of-use position or in its stream-damming position.

I claim:

l. In an automatic darn for use with an irrigation ditch, a flexible dam curtain, a support for said dam curtain capable-of straddling the irrigation ditch, one end ot the curtain being attached to said support and the other end thereof being free, weight means carried by the free end of said curtain, means for removably staking said free and weighted end of the curtain to the earth at opposite sides of the ditch, and means disposed at one side of the ditch and connected to said support for moving thesupport to unroll the curtain into the ditch to darn up the water therein.

2. An automatic dam according to claim l., wherein said means includesa spring-tensioned releasable arm.

3,. An automatic dam according to claim l, wherein said means includes a frame, a swingable arm carried by the iramea tension spring interconnecting one end of said arm and a portion of the frame, and a time-controlled releasablelatch member for releasing the swingable arm at a predetermined time.

4. An automatic dam according to claim l, wherein the support for the dam curtain has a ixed spool portion 4at anend therein, .and wherein said means includes a rope attached at one end to the spool portion and wound around the same.

, 5. An automatic darn according to claim l, wherein the support is a bar having spool portions at its opposite ends, and wherein said means includes a rope attached to one of the spool portions and wound around the same.

6. An automatic'dam according to claim 1, wherein the dam curtain support is a bar having a spool portion at an end thereof, wherein said means includes a rope attached at one 'end to the spool portion and wound around the same, and wherein said means also includes time-controlled release means connected to the other end of the rope.

7. In an automatic dam for use with an irrigation ditch, a flexible dam curtain, a support for said dam curtaincapable of straddling the irrigation ditch, one end of the curtain being attached to said support and the other end thereof being free, weight means carried by the free end of said curtain, meansrfor removably staking said free and weighted end of the curtain to the earth at opposite sides of the ditch, and time-controlled mechanism disposed at one side of the ditch and connected to one end portion of the dam curtain support for moving the support to unroll the curtain into the ditch and darn up the water therein at a predetermined time.

8. An automatic dam for use with an irrigation ditch, comprising a flexible dam curtain, a support for the darn curtain capable-of straddling an irrigation ditch and upon which the curtain is rolled up when not in use, one end o the curtain being attached to the support with the other end of the curtain being free of the support, weights on the last-named end of the curtain, and automatically 'releasable means connected Vto the dam curtain support adapted to be placed at one side of the irrigation ditch, said trame comprising spaced upright portions having ground-engaging end portions` and a longitudinally extending portion between and connecting the upright portions, a platform mounted upon the frame, a swingable arm pivotally connected to the frame and extending in substantial parallelism to the longitudinal portion of the frame when the device is in inoperative position, a tension spring interconnecting a portion of the frame and one end of said swingable arm, the opposite end of said arm having an oiset portion providing means for attaching a rope to be connected to the rolled up dam curtain, means for maintaining the spring-tensioned arm in inoperative po sition when desired, clock mechanism mounted on said platform, and means forming a part of said clock mechanism to move the maintaining means out of engagement with the swingable arm at a predetermined time to release said arm and eiect the unrolling of the dam curtain.

12. Time-controlled means for shifting the position of a portable dam curtain-supporting member and unrolling a iiexible darn curtain therefrom, comprising a one-piece frame having spaced upright portions terminating at their lower ends in ground-engaging portions, interconnecting substantially horizontal longitudinally extending portion between the upright portions, means for removably pinning the frame to the ground, a swingable arm pivotally connected to the frame adjacent an end thereof, a tension spring interconnecting one end portion of said swingable arm and a portion of said frame whereby to maintain the asm under tension when in inoperative position, means connecting the opposite end of the swingable arm to the dam curtain-supporting member, and movable trigger means associated with the timecontrolled means and the swingable arm to release the arm and shift the position of the curtain-supporting member and curtain at a predetermined time.

13. Automatic means for releasing a portable dam curtain at a predetermined time, comprising a frame, a swingable arm member mounted on said frame, a tension spring connecting a portion of said arm to a portion of said frame to maintain the arm under tension when the device is in inoperative position, means interconnecting the swingable arm and the dam curtain to be released, manually settable clock mechanism carried by said frame, and trigger means interconnecting the clock mechanism and arm to release the latter at a predetermined time.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,080,944 Baker Dec. 9, 1913 1,237,107 Shaffer Aug. 14, 1917 2,664,713 Baker Jan. 5, 1954 

